


Fated Fortune

by shineelover



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/F, HOW AM I SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS SHIP, I love it so much, MY GAYS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 00:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6173374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shineelover/pseuds/shineelover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orochi reads Kagero's fortune and doesn't like what she sees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fated Fortune

Of course it ended up this way. They were both Lord Ryoma's retainers after all, and thus spent so much of their time together. When Orochi first found out her best friend started getting involved with Saizo, she didn't know what hit her first: the disappointment or the jealousy. She couldn't figure out how to deal with the disappointment, or figure out where it came from, but with jealousy she could rationalize it as normal, friendly feelings. If Kagero spent more time with Saizo, that meant she spent less with Orochi. That's all there was to it.

Of all the time she spent with Kagero, Orochi couldn't pinpoint the exact moment her feelings for her changed. The moment when they first met clung to her mind as her most cherished memory, but that wasn't exactly where it started. Of all the people in the army, she mused, she'd grown closest to an aloof, level-headed, stoic Kagero. At first, Orochi only laughed at Kagero's humorless personality, but then she began to notice her tiny smirks and short chuckles, and learned to laugh along with her. Eventually, Orochi began to laugh even when they weren't joking, and when Kagero asked, she replied that spending time with her made her so happy that she wanted laugh.

Maybe she was being a bad friend when she secretly felt happy when Kagero complained about Saizo being too reckless or too hot-headed. She'd comfort her as well as any best friend would, but inside she was hoping their relationship would eventually break apart.

“How about I read your fortune?” Orochi offered after a particularly serious argument between Kagero and Saizo. She'd always suggest it, but Kagero never enjoyed getting her fortune read. Orochi would be lying if she said she wasn't half-motivated by her own curiosity about her friend's love life.

To her surprise, Kagero merely shrugged and said, “Why not? I'm in need of any advice I can get.”

Orochi perked up and tried not to seem too eager. Of all the years they've known each other, this was the first time she allowed Orochi to do a _love_ reading on her. She vaguely wondered if Kagero was the only person in the army she hadn't done a reading for yet. She hadn't wanted to force her into something she didn't want to do.

Orochi removed the stack of cards from her sleeve and instructed Kagero to shuffle until she thought the cards were sufficiently mixed up.

Kagero chuckled. “Are you still using the cards I drew for you?”

“Of course I am!” Orochi exclaimed. “They're the most important ones I have! Now pick a card from the middle of the deck.”

Kagero did as instructed, and smiled. It was the one Kagero had recently redrawn for her, the scene of the river where they first met.

Orochi clicked her tongue. “Now put it back and shuffle again, then pick out another card.”

Four more times Kagero did this, with each card souring Orochi's mood more and more.

She felt like a bad friend again. Shouldn't she be happy to learn that Kagero's relationship with Saizo would work out? Wasn't her friend's happiness her own? The five cards she'd pulled out constructed a fortuitous reading, specifically fortelling that she will have a long and happy life with the one she currently loved.

“What's that look for?” Kagero teased. “What does it say?”

Kagero didn't believe in fortunes, right? So whatever Orochi told her, she wouldn't take too seriously. And besides, wasn't Saizo stressing her out anyways? It'd be best for Kagero to break it off with him. That's what Orochi decided in those few seconds, that those would be the lies she'd tell herself to ease her guilt.

“It says...” she began. She swallowed and looked away from Kagero's eyes. This was for hEr own good. “It says that a current relationship is destined to end.”

Kagero took a moment to think, then she hummed. “Is that so?”

Her face fell just a little bit, and Orochi's heart broke. The last thing she wanted to do was make Kagero feel bad, but in the back of her mind, she rejoiced. That happiness was short lasted, however, as it immediately created a wave of guilt. Seeing Kagero steel her face of any emotion just worsened her mood.

“That's a pity then,” Kagero said eventually.

What could Orochi do now? She didn't want Kagero to be upset, but it wasn't like she could come out and say, “I lied to you about your fortune because you two are supposed to be happy together forever and I might just be a little bit jealous because I like you a lot.” Especially not _right_ after lying to her.

“Don't do anything rash!” Orochi blurted. “Fortunes aren't always real, you know!” Another lie.

Kagero shook her head and smiled. “No, that's what I needed to hear. Thank you, Orochi, for telling me directly. You're a good friend.”

Orochi could almost hear the weight drop into her stomach.

 

The next few days passed in a frenzy. The fighting kept Orochi busy, which was probably for the best, because she had no time to relax let alone think herself into a hole about Kagero and Saizo.

It wasn't that Orochi particularly disliked Saizo. She probably would've felt the same way about anyone else in his position. He was a decent guy really, but ever since she lied to Kagero about her fortune, Orochi felt little pangs of guilt whenever she saw him. She even offered her dessert to him one night, which he took as a gesture of camaraderie from Kagero's closest friend.

Everything seemed to be going fine: Kagero still spent time with Saizo, they weren't arguing anymore, and Kagero hadn't mentioned the fortune even once. All had returned to normal, and Orochi eventually forgot about the whole thing, returning back to when she pushed her feelings for Kagero to the back of her mind.

Things went on like this until one day, out of nowhere, Kagero broke off her relationship with Saizo. She'd sought out Orochi for dinner, then broke the news casually, as if she was talking about one of her paintings. She waited patiently for Orochi to cough up and spit out her food.

“What do you mean you split up?” she choked. “Why? When? How? I mean, are you okay?”

Kagero tapped her chin.

“Saizo and I ended our romantic relationship because we're not able to get along. We came to an agreement on this, and the decision was quite mutual.”

Orochi couldn't quite pinpoint what she felt or what she wanted to say. Eventually she just settled on, “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I knew this was coming sooner or later, so I was already prepared.” She paused, drumming her fingers on the table. “We were already having conflicts, and the fortune you told me just decided it.”

Orochi's heart sank. Wasn't this what she wanted? What had been the point of lying to her if she didn't want them to split up? One side of her rejoiced, while the other side flooded her with extreme guilt.

“I'm--” Orochi stuttered. “I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have told you.”

Kagero put her hand up, stopping her. “You have nothing to apologize for. Your honesty helped steer me in the right direction.”

Honesty! Leave it to Kagero to hit right where it hurt, even if she didn't know it. Orochi played with the idea of keeping her lie a secret forever. After all, Kagero had planned to break it off with Saizo anyway, so what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. But what Orochi knew did, and she knew that Kagero was supposed to be with Saizo. She'd dug herself into this mess: tell Kagero the truth and jeopardize their friendship, or keep her secret forever and deny her best friend's love life and happiness. Orochi bit her lip. She realized long ago that not many things meant more to her than Kagero's happiness, not even their friendship.

“Look, Kagero, I wasn't honest!” she cried. “I lied about the fortune. I was jealous, so I made it up, and I'm sorry. So don't break up with Saizo because of me.”

Kagero raised her eyebrows. Orochi'd learned long ago that Kagero always kept her emotions hidden from her face, so even with such a subtle expression, she was taken aback. She buried her face in her hands and apologized again.

Kagero brought her hand to her chin and stayed silent. She'd really done it this time. Kagero knew just how bad a friend she was now.

Kagero finally broke the silence. “What did the fortune say then?”

“That you'll have a long and happy life with the one you currently love. So you're not supposed to break up with Saizo,” she said, leaning towards Kagero. “Oh please tell me you'll get back together with him! I shouldn't have said anything. I'm a bad friend.”

Kagero didn't make a single sound; she considered Orochi's words slowly, letting her mind process each word. Over the years, Orochi had learned to read her expressions, every twitch of the eye, every smirk, every scrunch of the nose, but now she found herself lost and unnerved.

In her usual slow way of speaking, Kagero said, “Would it be strange if I didn't consider you a friend?”

Orochi felt something drop into her stomach, but she told herself she couldn't cry, even if her heart was breaking in so many different pieces in too many different ways. Kagero continued.

“It was wrong of me to see Saizo when I..." she paused, searching for the right words. “When I harbored feelings for someone else. It wasn't fair to him, or myself, nor to the other person.”

“I-is that so?” Orochi managed. Not only did Kagero want to break off their friendship, but she also liked another man now. This was one of the worst days of her life, but maybe she deserved it.

“Yes. This person is more kind than they think,” Kagero continued. “They may do the wrong thing sometimes, but I know they truly mean well and only want me to be happy. I think that's why I held this person closer to my heart than I ever did with Saizo, and for that I must apologize to all three of us.”

Orochi couldn't keep quiet anymore. A surge of jealousy and indignation welled up inside her and for a moment overwhelmed her guilt.

“Who is he?” she shrieked. “The only other man you're close to is Lord Ryoma.” She gasped. “Don't tell me it's Lord Ryoma!”

Kagero choked but immediately covered it up with a cough. Under her hand was a dark blush.

“You really want me to say it out loud, don't you? Haven't you realized I've been speaking about you?”

Orochi froze. “Speaking about me? What about me?” she repeated dumbly.

“You're the one the fortune is about,” Kagero intoned every word slowly. “The one I currently love. It's not about Saizo.”

Orochi gaped. How was she supposed to process this right after Kagero said she didn't consider her a friend? That she actually considered her _more_ than a friend? She cursed Kagero's poor choice of words, but she immediately felt a wave of shock and disbelief.

“That's why I lied to you!” she blurted. “I like you too! A lot!”

She could feel her cheeks heating up. They both stared at each other in silence, faces red and incredibly uncomfortable. Suddenly, Kagero burst out laughing, a free, unrestrained laugh that echoed through the mend hall. After her heart settled, Orochi decided that Kagero's laugh was the best sound she ever heard.

“A long and happy life, was it?” Kagero said when she finally stopped laughing.

“That's what it said! I'm telling the truth this time,” she said.

When she saw the soft look in Kagero's eyes, something inside her welled up and made her so happy that all she could do was laugh.


End file.
